Petterinos

Petterinos is perfectly situated in the Loop in the theater district. It was easy to make a last minute reservation for a Friday night as we saw a musical at the CIBC Theatre. They offered us to sit outside, but it smelled like sewage and I figured there's no amount of flowers that can cover up that smell. It isn't the restaurant's fault, but they weren't doing anything to blow the scent away from them either. We had been here a few times in the past when going to the theater, but I gotta say, Petterino's is dying a slow death. This place used to be packed before a show and now its a former shell of itself. We had a server that was either new, or just not very attentive as he left drinks unrefilled and empty on our table He never checked on us. Never checked to see how the meal was. He was just not there. A different server/runner brought our bread to the table and then refilled it for us. I ordered the Steak & Frites (steak & fries for the English readers out there). The steak was a terrible cut of beef. I ordered it medium rare and it was cooked to perfection...that is to say, if the steak itself wasn't tough, ultra-chewy, and had cartilage or fat coursing through the entire cut. The fries were a bit limp and not very flavorful or warm. My wife got the rigatoni a la vodka with a gluten free noodle, and said it was fabulous. So not all dishes are cooked terribly. And I know you're wondering why I didn't send back my steak. Well, our server never showed up until half our meals were eaten so that we couldn't return them. The one thing he did deliver rather quickly was the check and he kept checking up on whether we paid it our not. There are just so many better places in the area now that it's not even worth visiting or a drink on Game Day.

The Alfredo sauce was some of the best I've ever tasted (and it's gluten free). The side of broccolini was big enough to share between two people.